Russian women regret being born female

Mar 09, 2011

Elena Novikova

Drawing by Niyaz Karim

Despite laws against gender discrimination, many Russian women still face undue burdens in the workplace and in life.

Svetlana Fadeyeva, 27, works for a construction company in
the Moscow region. Slated for a promotion, she told her boss she was
pregnant. The next day, not only was the offer of a promotion rescinded,
but her salary was drastically reduced. She is currently paid one-third
of her former salary, and as the rest of Russia celebrates
International Women’s Day on March 8 with a day off, Fadeyeva will work
from 9 to 6.

Unfortunately, Fadeyeva's case is far from the only example of discrimination against pregnant women and women with children.

“While I was looking for a job, I had a number of
interviews and I was rejected by ten different companies because I had
children. Of course nobody tells you a thing like that straight to your
face, but when they ask if you have children, you immediately notice
how the interviewer’s face changes if the answer is yes,” said Maria
Rybakova, a 32-year-old mother of two who is looking for a job in the
banking sector.

It’s no wonder that a third of Russian women wish they had
been born male. On the eve of International Women’s Day, the website
Superjob.ru conducted a survey among men and women showing that only 5
percent of women in Russia consider life as a female gratifying. This
trend becomes much more evident as age of the participants increases.
Among women younger than 24, 26 percent wish to have been born male,
while the figure increases to 33 percent among women over 45. A
principal reason underlying this frustration is discrimination against
women who have or plan to have children. In addition, as one woman
surveyed said, men make more money, even if they have exactly the same
qualifications for a position.

“Every time I struggle for a more senior position, I
regret being born female,” said a 27-year-old woman from Orenburg.
According to the same survey, 91 percent of men are happy with their
gender and don’t believe that being female would give them any
advantage.

Several years ago, the United Nations became concerned
about discrimination against women in Russia, and that concern was based
on valid reasons. According to United Nations official data, the gender
wage gap in Russia is between 35 percent and 40 percent. Executive
positions are mainly occupied by men, and many organizations that were
fighting for women’s rights have closed down. The Russian government has
only three women in positions of power--Tatiana Golikova, the MInister
of Health; Elvira Nabiullina, the MInister of Economic Development and
Yelena Skrynnik, the Minister of Agriculture. Women make up only 13.8
percent of the State Duma, while the Federation Council is less than 5
percent female. The situation is even worse in the regional governments;
of 80 regional governors, only two are women.

It seems like the message has finally reached the right
person. Pressured by international organizations, Minister of Health
Golikova, announced in a meeting with UN High Commissioner Navanethem
Pillay that Russia is preparing a gender equality bill. The news came
two weeks before the celebration of International Women’s Day and has
become a symbolic gift to women. Notably, a similar bill was approved by
the Duma in 2003, but was later blocked by the government. “There was
no Gender Equality Law in Russia until now. We don’t yet have any
mechanism to eliminate gender discrimination, although the current
legislation contains a number of provisions banning such
discrimination”

Passage of the new law has unleashed strong discussion.
Many men have spoken against the initiative and fear that the situation
could be reversed, while some legal experts remain skeptical and argue
that it will have no real impact. The Labor Code, as well as
corresponding articles in the constitution and other legislation,
guarantee equality between men and women in Russia. However, such
equality is only theoretical, as in real life these laws are ignored and
there are currently no mechanisms for enforcement. Without enforcement,
a new law won’t make any difference. Passing the law is a first step,
but the important question to ask is when measures to enforce the law
will be implemented.

In comparison

In Scandinavian countries, women are more highly
represented in politics than anywhere else in the world. In Sweden,
Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Finland, female participation in parliament
ranges between 34 percent and 46 percent, while the global average is
just 18 percent.

The first European Ministry of Gender Equality was created
in Denmark in 1999. Sweden joined the initiative in 2007, and a year
later Spain did the same. A Ministry of Gender Equality also exists in
35 percent of Latin American countries. In 2009, President Hugo Chavez
created a Ministry of Gender Equality in Venezuela, saying it was a
“gift” to the women of his country.